The Date
by BananaPeaceMonkeyKarmi
Summary: After an awful incident that left them ten years without speaking, two people run into each other outside of a restaurant. But how exactly will that go over? How will the night end?
1. Restaurant

Hai there everyone!  
The inspiration for this bi-shot, like many, came out of nowhere!!!  
So, I hope you do enjoy it! xD  
Dedicated to a wonderful generous friend of mine! ^^ I hope you like it!

* * *

Another glance. Another five minutes had passed. And, there was still no sign of him. Anywhere.

She sighed, tapping her foot gently against the gravel as she waited outside of the place she was supposed to be meeting him at. She didn't know what exactly to call it; she just knew the name of it was Bave and Duster's. She'd been there a few times before. It was almost like a place where people could eat and hangout, play a _lot _of different games, and hold your own events. In this case, she knew that her and her date were supposed to have dinner, then go into the Arcade Room as it was called, and play a few games. She also wondered just how the night would have ended. _At his place, or mine? _No, she wasn't the type of girl to go around having one-night stands, but she'd been thinking about that for a long while now. And, her entire life, she'd been the "tease"--the girl to be so very flirtatious, but never actually sleeping with anyone. That was just fine by her, of course, but she wondered what it would have been like _if _something _were _to happen.

She glanced down at her wrist again, and saw that it had been another three minutes since she'd last looked at it. She gulped, her eyes prickling at the corners, before she hurriedly reached up and wiped them. She couldn't believe this. _Am I actually being stood up? _That had . . . never happened to her before. She had been out dating recently, at the encouragement of her wacky friend, and every time she went out, the guy was always early. Always eager to get to see her again. She knew that, at first, it had nothing to do with her personality. No, it was more like what she had on the outside, not the inside that mattered to a man at first. For some of them, she'd learned that even after a few months of dating, her body was the only thing on his mind. Bedding her . . . She shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. It wasn't from her thoughts, this involuntary action, but from the cold. Nonetheless, what she'd just done fit what she was thinking.

Tifa couldn't dream of sleeping with a man after only knowing him after just a few months. This guy she was supposed to be meeting here, who was running late she told herself, she'd just met him the week before. _And yet, I was thinking of sleeping with him! _She always thought that maybe she needed to explore the male population a bit more. _According to Yuffie, in more ways than one. _The woman sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and wondering what it might be like to actually have sex with a man. Would it hurt? _Well of course it would! But . . . wouldn't the pain be worth it? _To her, that all depending on who the guy was. And how much pleasure she would get out of it, in the end.

Biting her lower lip, she looked back down at her wrist watch, and sighed. He was late by a full half hour. Every five minutes, he'd text her and say he'd be there in ten. She hasn't seen hind nor tail of him at all. Tifa gulped again, thinking that she was actually being stood up. _Great. And he seemed so . . . nice. _Don't they all though? And yet, here she was, a woman of twenty-five, standing in front of this place looking like the damned fool she was. Several people had passed by her, looking at her strange. She knew what they were wondering. _Poor girl. Her date's stood her up. _Yep, tonight she was the poor girl who stupidly came to Bave and Duster's, only to get left here by her supposed date. And she'd gotten all dressed up for the occasion too! A pair of dark jeans, a red sweater that hugged her in all of the right places. _Okay so, maybe that's not dressed up. But hell, for something like this it is. _And now, she felt like a complete idiot.

Tifa sniffed once, reaching up to wipe her eyes again. _I am **not **going to cry. _No, she wasn't. She'd always swore to herself that she would never cry over a man, no matter how much she might love him, or how much she might want to be with him. She'd been independent for this long; she could last on her own for a little while longer right? _But . . . who's to say that it wouldn't be nice to have a man in my life? _Which was the exact reason _why _she'd even listened to Yuffie in the first place. Tifa thought that maybe she should start going out and dating. It would be good for her, keep her mind occupied. Especially now. Her father was in the hospital after getting into a car accident, and the doctors weren't sure if he would make it out of there alive. He wasn't responding to the medicine they were giving him, and within a week his condition had deteriorated so much that he's on life-support. Tifa shook her head, beginning her walk away from the door and outward to the parking lot. _Maybe . . . maybe I could go visit him instead. _Yeah. That sounded better than waiting around here looking the fool.

"Forget it!"

She blinked, turning around and looking back at the door. There was a woman storming out of the first door with a drink in her hand, and she could see that she was being followed by a man. Tifa gasped; he looked so familiar . . .

"Aerith! Aerith, I'm sorry!" He caught up with her at the second door that actually lead outside. Tifa had completely stopped by now, half-turning around and was paying a lot of attention to the couple who were arguing at the door. She was across the space from them, on another sidewalk . In between her own place and theirs, there was a space where one could drive in to pick someone up, or drop someone off.

"Sorry?! Are you kidding me? Every time I start talking, you space out. What? Do you not like listening to me?"

He bent his head down, one hand coming up and resting on his forehead. Tifa couldn't really see him; he was half-obscured from her vision because of the door. And yet, his silhouette . . .

"Sweetheart, that's not it. I just . . . You know I've been trying to think about some kind of way to--"

"Oh!" The woman placed her hands on her hips, her pink dress ruffling where were hands now were. "So, you've been thinking about _him _this entire time and not me?" She threw her head back slightly, and Tifa knew from the gesture that was synonymous with a woman rolling her eyes. "This was supposed to be a night out with me so that you could forget about all of that crap. And you just won't let it go!"

He growled then. "Maybe you don't catch my attention well enough."

Silence. Tifa's eyes opened slightly as she finally realized that voice, who it sounded like to her. _I've heard that angry tone before . . . _And, she couldn't believe he'd actually just said something like that!

And then, red liquid flying everywhere. Tifa gasped, holding a hand to her mouth, not believing _that _either. "You can forget _us_! You wanna sit around here all day thinking about . . . about _that, _go right ahead! You can do it without me!"

And the woman named Aerith in the pink dress began to walk away.

The man swore, stepping out from behind the door and shouting after her, "Good! I can sure as hell think better with you gone anyway!" He growled, looking down at himself. Tifa's eyes widened at the sight of him as he began assessing the damage done to his clothes. A really nice white button down shirt, now splotched with red liquid, and tan pants. She bit her lip, dying to say something, anything. _The last time I saw him . . . was on bad terms. _Bad terms didn't even begin to describe it. His mom was making them move to another town. She'd gotten a new job there, and she always told him there was better schooling. Tifa . . . she was upset about his departure, but her dad nearly threw a party. _I always knew he didn't like him, but I never understood why. _And when Tifa told her father she was going to say goodbye, her father wouldn't have any of it.

_"I'm going to tell him goodbye, whether you like it or not!"_

_"Fine! But you better make him think you want him gone for good!"_

She knew why he wanted her to trick her old friend; he didn't want her to ever see him again, and if she did, for him to just blow her off and not even look in her direction.

She watched him for a few seconds longer, the scene almost painful for her. She wanted to say something to him, to apologize, even just to say hi. He was still looking down at himself, trying to wipe the stuff off of his shirt that was now seeping through it. _What can I say? I can't just go up to him and say, "Hey, how's it going?" and expect him to just . . . be okay with it._

_"You . . . want me gone?"_

_"Well yeah. I never liked you. I was only your friend because I felt sorry for you. All the other kids didn't want to play with you, so I pretended like I did."_

_"Oh well that's just great. Another person in this town who hates me."  
_

Little did he know how much her own words cut her deeper than he'd imagine.

Tifa shook her head, deciding she had nothing to say to him that would make anything better. She turned around, taking a step away from him, making the move to turn her back on him for, probably, the rest of her life.

"Tifa?"

She stopped short, nearly tripping. She bit down harder on her lower lip, wondering, _Should I turn around? Say something? _She thought she might be able to get a hi without angering him too much. _Say something! _But she couldn't get her body to turn back towards him. It was guilt, and she knew it. She felt terrible for never telling him before that she hadn't meant those awful things she'd said ten years ago.

She heard him sigh. Out of anger, frustration . . . sadness . . . maybe?

"Nevermind. I thought you were someone else. Sorry."

She then heard his shoes grind against the gravel as he turned around. Tifa closed her eyes hard, gulping before turning around and seeing his back. He was walking away . . . back to his car perhaps. He surely couldn't go back into that place with red stuff all over him. She looked down at her watch again for a quick second, coming to the conclusion that if her date weren't there by now, he wasn't going to be.

"Cloud?"

Her voice was quiet. For a moment, she didn't think he heard her, until he stopped in the middle of the road. His head hung, he stuffed his hands in his pockets with a deep sigh. She was both relieved and frightened by his reaction. Would he be happy to see her? _Probably not. _Okay, so that was out of the question. But, would he at least . . . stop and talk to her? "Catch up" on the times. She wasn't too sure. Would he . . . would he . . . That was the only phrase she could get her mind to process.

He turned his head slightly, and she caught sight of one crystal clear blue eye. His blond hair, it was still quite strange looking, but she'd always liked that about him. It stuck out at all sides, and when he turned to fully look at her, she saw that there was still that . . . that long yellow lock that went down his face. She bit her lip again, a little more subtle than the first time so that he wouldn't catch on that she was nervous. Of course . . . when they were little, he was always able to tell if something were wrong with her. Surely something like that would not have changed. _But, we haven't talked in so long . . . _

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes."

She didn't know whether or not to take that as a compliment or . . . an insult. _I argue for the latter. _Probably deserved that, after all. He looked down at the ground as he walked up to her, and before she knew it he was standing right there, more than within arm's reach. His gaze came back up, and he looked her dead in the face, unblinking. Why was he supposed to be afraid? He hadn't done anything wrong. _All my fault. _And her father's. Oh yeah, she blamed him _heavily _for this.

"You . . . look good, Cloud."

He snorted, looking off to the side for a moment before his eyes met hers again. He had a small smile on his face. "Good? With a strawberry daiquiri all over my shirt? Thanks Tifa. Nice to see you haven't changed at all."

She knew what he meant; the lying, that hadn't changed. But, she wasn't talking about his clothes. She meant . . . she meant _him. _He'd grown up _so much _since she saw him last. _Well, what do you expect people to do in ten years? _But damn, he looked really, really _good. _

"I didn't mean it like that." There was no point in her getting angry with him. No, that wasn't going to help the situation at all. What she really wanted to do was clear the air. Tell him how she really felt three-thousand, six hundred and fifty two days ago. _How I still feel now. _"How have you been?"

Cloud shook his head. "Can we cut this? Please? Small talk doesn't do anything for anyone Tifa." She shrugged, looking away for a moment and down the parking lot. A breeze picked up, blowing her hair in her face. As she look back at him, she brought some of it from her mouth and tucked it behind her ear. He didn't even move; his spikes she swayed gently in the wind. "What do you really want to say to me?"

Tifa blinked. "I thought you'd have something to say to me, Cloud." More like _a lot_, but that would work for now. He didn't answer her. An eyebrow raised, but his gaze never wavered from her own, and she could tell from the look in his eyes--there was something he wanted to say. Maybe not now, but definitely soon.

For another minute, they just stood there staring at each other. Then, he moved, sighing and leaning against the brick pillar they were standing near. His arms crossed over his chest, he lowered his head, his chin almost touching his collar with his eyes closed.

"So, what are you doing here?"

That was a question she definitely didn't want to answer. What was she doing here? _Getting stood up by a guy I assumed was going to be really nice. I'm standing here like a complete idiot, and now you've shown up, which only makes my day worse. _No, she really couldn't tell him that. And make him feel good? _Okay well, I'd like to do that . . . to explain . . . _No, she didn't want to give him the upper-hand. Make him feel like that's what she deserved, to get stood up. That was really something she didn't think she'd be able to handle at the moment. So, how exactly was she supposed to answer that question? _It seems as if I won't stop running out of problems tonight. _Tifa gave a long sigh, thankful that he couldn't see her. He could definitely still hear her, and maybe even the hesitation in her voice when she finally decided to answer him.

"Well . . . I'm here on a date."

"Where's your date?"

Another hard-to-answer question. Another frustrating question. Another question that had her praying to just get run over by a car, even though she wasn't standing in the middle of the parking lot. Where was her date? Where was he . . . she wasn't too sure herself. _Why don't you ask him? _That's what she wanted to say, but once again, that would be giving the him the opportunity to tell her it was something she deserved. So, what was she supposed to say now? _Why not just be honest? _Why not? He was going to figure it out anyway. _Maybe . . . I could tell him it already ended?_

"He's left already. Just a few minutes before you came outside with your . . . with your girlfriend."

That last part was a bit hard to say. He looked up at her as she stammered, before she looked away and finished her sentence. Her eyes were now trained on door to the amusement place. One person walked out of a door that led to the side of the building instead of the front, talking to someone on the other end of a cell phone. She looked extremely happy, and started laughing at something the person on the other end was saying. Tifa bit her lip again.

"You're lying."

Her gaze snapped back to his own, and he was staring at her with a rather hard look in his eyes. But there was . . . there was something else there. A softness, maybe in the back somewhere . . .

Her hands on her hips, she gave him the same stare back. "Yeah? And just how do you know?"

He raised one eyebrow again, pressing against the wall before pushing himself off of it. Cloud took the one step it took before he was towering over her. She never backed down, and looked straight back up at him. "For one, I never saw you inside--"

"--The place is pretty big. We might have been on the other side--"

"--Two, you don't look . . . worn, like you would have already been on a date tonight--"

"--Maybe he wasn't very interesting--"

"--And three, you always bite your lip when you're lying!"

As they exchanged words, their voices grew louder and louder until he was done. The girl across the way stopped her conversation to look at the two, before covering her mouth with her hand and speaking into the phone again. Cloud growled, turning away from Tifa and stuffing his hands in his pockets. She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and staring over at the doors of the other side of the road.

"Stood you up, didn't he?"

He was facing her again, a few seconds after saying that. Her jaw dropped, as well as her arms, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head. She wanted to throw a temper tantrum at the moment. "No!" she nearly shouted. The girl standing near the door looked at them again, before going back inside of the building. "No . . ." She crossed her arms, looking at the doors again. He tilted his head minutely to one side as she chewed lightly on her lower lip. _He remembered that? _Beyond belief it was. She sighed. "Yes." Turning back to him, rolling her eyes, she shifted her weight to one side. "Come on Cloud. Tell me. _I told you so, _or, _You deserve it. _I know that's what you want to say."

He shrugged. "I don't want to say that to you." She stopped, stared at him for a moment before regaining her composure. She wanted to ask him something about why, but Tifa decided to keep her mouth shut; she sure wasn't complaining. It was a bit astonishing he didn't want to make her feel bad. If he'd done to her what she to him, she sure would be rubbing it in his face that he couldn't keep a girl. "But what I _do _want to ask is why are you still standing out here by yourself?"

He looked down at her, arms crossed, as if expecting an answer. She huffed again, turning away. "I leaving, that's what." Her mind screamed at her to do the opposite of what her body was doing, and that was walking away. _No you idiot! Go back! Say something to him! _She didn't even see the car speeding through the parking lot and riding its way into this little space. Cloud yelled her name, reaching out and grabbing her wrist as she took a step down onto the pavement. Yanking her back, her body collided with his own and he landed against the pillar as the car came to a stop in front of them. Tifa gulped, his fingers still wrapped around her wrist, her hands on his chest. Her eyes widened as she realized their position, before stepping back from him. Someone on the passenger side of the car got out, not looking at them, before walking inside of the building.

Tifa gulped, her hand shaky as she reached down into her pocket to grab her phone. Cloud eyed her for a moment, before watching the driver speed off to find a parking space. He shook his head, hearing her speak to someone on the other line of her phone. From what he gathered, she was speaking to a taxi company. Cloud rolled his eyes. "I could take you home."

Tifa turned her head toward him, her mouth close to agape, her hand still gripping the phone. "No, that's alright," she told the manager of the place before flipping the phone shut. "What?" He repeated his offer, hands in his pocket, his gaze away from her own and concentrating on the door of the facility. She gulped. "Cloud, you really don't have to. I mean . . . it's a bit far from here. And out of your way, I would guess--"

He shook his head again, looking at her. "No. I'll take you . . . well, I could just take you to my place then. Wouldn't want you by yourself this late at night."

Her eyes widened again. _His place. We would be . . . alone. _How she wanted that.

"Besides, I need to talk to you about the last time we saw each other."

* * *

Yaaay! That's over and done with!  
Well, the first chapter anyway. Hope you all enjoy it, and I hope to have the second out before Christmas!


	2. Apartment

So... I know I said I'd have this out before Christmas, but I got really busy and...then school started back up, and life happened again.  
Sorry excuse, I know, and I also an aware that I've been neglecting FanFiction lately. For that, my readers, I am truly sorry. I hope you all like this second chapter; I know it might not be worth your wait, but... well, let's just hope it's worth something.  
I especially appreciate:  
**_reader, linegenrou, rox, vLuna, kerapal bubbles, cloudlover2989, mom calling, Layla, babyviolin~!

* * *

_**

Ten minutes had passed by now, and in complete and total silence too. Tifa sat there next to him in the passenger seat, and he just kept his eyes straight ahead, never wavering from the road and all its many distractions. _Like I need her to add onto that. _He really didn't. Sure, he was a fine driver by himself, but with her in the car with him . . . well, he just didn't know what to do. Should he be totally pissed? Happy to see her? _What? _Yeah, that didn't make too much sense to him, to be happy. She told him, for God's sake, that she hated him, and that she was only pretending to be his friend because she felt sorry for him! His hand gripped the wheel tighter, slightly, and he could see from his bottom peripheral vision that his knuckles were beginning to whiten. Taking a deep breath, Cloud began to think that maybe he should calm down a little before he drove this car into a ditch.

_Why am I even taking her home? _He didn't understand that too much either. Was he just being nice? Sure, he wanted to think of himself as being nice, but did she really deserve it? _Had a rough night. _That she did, and he had to admit, he really didn't want to make her feel worse about it. The vengeful part of him did, but a much bigger part of him wouldn't let him say anything at all about it. Just that he didn't want to say what she thought he might have. _Damn. _Always being the soft one, was he? _For her maybe . . . _And for little else.

His mind wandered a bit to other things, like where her father was at the time. Boy, did he remember really catching hell from him. His mouth turned into a small snarl at the thought of the man. Cloud couldn't remember ever being happy or excited at the sight him, and maybe that's where Tifa's hostility boiled over from. _Can I really call it hostility? _He wasn't sure; maybe feinting would be a better word. The fake friendship. The memory flooded through him, and he shut his eyes tight as he slammed on the brakes to prevent himself from running into the car in front of them. They both thrust forward before crashing back into the seats. She gasped, and he glanced over at her for the first time since being in the car. Her eyes were wide, from fear and surprise he could see, her hand balled into a fist on her lap. He let go of the deep breath he'd been holding in, and waited a moment before going when the light turned green. He heard her panting softly next to him. Gulping, he put his focus back on the road. "Sorry," he mumbled. She didn't respond right away. _Recovering. _Probably didn't even notice he'd said something.

"That's alright," she whispered about two minutes later. Her voice was almost too quiet for him to hear.

His eyes flickered back over her again, and he noticed that hers were closed, her head down. Maybe she was tired. _Exhausting trying to pretend you don't like someone. _He knew from his own personal experience, and he wasn't even talking about Tifa. No, his . . . _former _girlfriend, Aerith. He rolled his eyes. God was she almost a pain to be around. _Maybe we were only together because we enjoyed each other in bed. _Mm, maybe that was it. They got along alright, but there was never really a . . . a spark he got from touching her, or looking at her. She was really just eye candy, and he could tell that she thought the same of him. Sure, at the beginning of their relationship, he thought she may be the one, but things evolved, and not to getting better emotionally. Nope, just sexually, and even that couldn't fuel a relationship for too long.

_What the hell was she so mad about? _Okay so, he wasn't paying that much attention to her. But hey, if a guy saved your life, wouldn't you try to think of a way to thank the person? That's all he was trying to do. Cloud even insisted to her that they shouldn't go on this date because he wouldn't be able to concentrate, but did she listen? Nope. She just loved to show herself off. Sure, Aerith could be sweet, but she was a downright bitch at other times. Of course he thought that he could be damn mean himself, but women were so much more vindictive than guys were. That's just a fact.

His brow furrowed, his attention back to the woman next to him in the car. She hadn't said anything nearly the entire time they'd been in the car, other than when he apologized for not paying as much attention as he should have been to the road. Was she asleep? He looked over again, and saw that her head was turned towards the window now. He sighed. _Great. She's asleep. _But a soft sigh from her told him otherwise. He glanced back over at her again, his eyes trailing her figure for a moment, before clinching the wheel harder and pressing his foot on the gas pedal a little more. _Damn. I knew she'd grow in the years we haven't seen each other but . . . _He didn't think it'd be _that_ much. And he was taking her to his house, where they would be all alone. _I put myself in the worst fucking situations possible, don't I?_

Thank the Lord the car ride only lasted another five minutes before he was pulling into the parking lot of his apartment complex. Rather large apartment complex, with rather nice apartments. He pulled into a space, and almost immediately killed the engine. For a moment, he just stared at the wheel, before unstrapping himself and shifting his weight in his seat so that nearly his entire body was facing her. His right forearm was resting on the headrest, his right knee up and resting on the edge of the seat. He watched her, and he was well aware that she knew he was watching her. Her left hand was up to her mouth, her fingers gently resting on her lips. His eyes softened for a minute, and that was another thing he remembered her doing when they were children. _When there's something she wants to say, and doesn't know how. _That could apply to the both of them.

Her gaze went from her lap to his eyes, and for a very still, tense moment she stared at him, before shaking her head and unstrapping herself as well. Her hand came up to the door handle, and Cloud made the same gestures to get out of the car. Stepping out, he pulled his keys from the ignition as he did so, noticing that she was standing in front of the car already. _Do I move too slow? _Maybe he was just trying to buy time on what to say. Sure, at the restaurant he seemed like a bit of a hardass, and he wasn't about to let that mask fall away just yet. He needed to get answers out of her with as little opposition as possible. Although . . . for some reason, he had a feeling she wanted to tell him something he wasn't expecting. _For the better, hopefully. _Yeah, he sure as hell knew he was a softie. It wasn't something he liked, but he knew it.

Cloud sighed, walking up the sidewalk to the stairs of the apartment building, and she was close behind him. Not stepping-on-his-heels behind him, which was fine, but close enough where he could hear her breathing. It was a bit of a soothing feeling, something else he was hating to admit, even to himself. _I just want to get this over with. _He really did. How . . . ? He wasn't too sure about that. But! That wasn't his issue . . . yet. Not until they reached the third floor anyway. Going up the stairs sent an echo throughout the vicinity; they were wood, but the landowner-people said they were replacing the wooden steps with concrete. When exactly was that going to happen, Cloud had no idea; he just hoped it would be soon. Wood made too much noise; at least concrete absorbed most of it.

Finally getting to his floor, he walked past two doors before reaching his own. His keys still in hand, he found the right one in almost no time, before shoving it through the lock and turning the knob. Cloud chanced a glance at her once again from his slightly bent position; Tifa was looking at the opposite wall, one hand around her middle, the other going through her hair. He sighed. _Damn. I wouldn't have imagined seeing her . . . like this. _He was praying that maybe she'd have stopped growing since she was fifteen, but that was a bit of wishful thinking on his part. Opening the door, he stepped from in front of the doorway and gestured for her to go in first. Her gaze snapped to his--it seemed as if she were dazing a bit--before she nodded and walked briskly past him, her eyes on the floor. Her head wasn't down--she wasn't going to be that submissive, he could tell--but it was there; her nervousness. If she weren't afraid to show weakness in front of him, Tifa would be biting her nails off right now.

Over the years, Cloud had developed a keen sense of reading people. Body language, tone of voice, their eyes. That's what he was good at--looking into a person's eyes and knowing what they truly felt. _The eyes don't lie. _He was aware of that, but most other people weren't. He took the saying _"The eyes are the window to the soul" _quite literally.

Closing the door behind him, he walked out of the hallway that led to the front room of his apartment. All tile floors--he hated carpet. If something got spilled, then it was hell trying the clean it up, especially juice. Red and darker stains were the worse. At least with tile, all you had to do was get a paper towel and wipe it up. And if the stain just sat there and left a mark after it was paper toweled, that also wasn't a problem; mop up the floor and everything was wonderful. Of course, seeing as the apartment wasn't really his property, he had to ask to get the carpet removed. The one of the landowners was a sweet old woman who completely understood his predicament; she didn't have carpet in her apartment either. Why they just didn't get the whole place remodeled was beyond him. _Maybe some people like it. _Or maybe they didn't have enough money to redo everyone's apartment; they were already doing the stairs, and maybe that was all the money that could be spent at the moment. Cloud had to pay for his carpet-removal himself, which was fine. He had the money to do it with.

She was standing in the center of his living room, right in front of his couch and behind the coffee table. If she wanted to sit down, she could; he wasn't completely understanding why she wasn't doing so. Her frame was rigid, he saw from studying her from behind. A strange and rather inappropriate thought crossed his mind, and he shook his head as if the physical action would cause the mental image to dissipate. It did. Sighing, he made a left into his kitchen. Putting his keys on the counter, he watched her flinch slightly at the small noise. _She needs to calm down. _If he yelled, Tifa just might have a heart attack. Didn't need her going to the hospital on his watch.

Why had he given her a ride to his place anyway--the second time tonight he'd had this thought before it occurred to him why.He knew of a series of rapes in the area that he'd heard her say to the taxi company on the other line when she called for one. Tifa hadn't hurt him too much where he thought she deserved something like that. Another image crossed his mind, this one violent. Closing his eyes rather tight, he tried not to think of his . . . his childhood "friend" sprawled across her living room floor, being forced to give to a man what he didn't deserve. Cloud gulped, opening his eyes again to her gaze. She had turned around and was staring at him, one hand clutching the purse in her hand, the other behind her back. She sighed, her eyes darting to the wall adjacent to him, the hand behind her back now going through her hair. He watched the dark brown strands sway against her shoulders, tangled in her fingers before returning it to her side.

Each of them was waiting on the other to make the first move. He didn't really want to say anything first because he knew if he did, it would all come pouring out. Everything he'd been holding back for ten years would just come out and he wouldn't be able to stop it. He had to say it in parts. _I can't afford to let her see how much this has hurt me. _Tifa didn't seem like the type to enjoy another's pain, but hey, with her he couldn't exactly say anymore. Some things he could read--her body for instance--but other things . . . Cloud thought, a long time ago, he knew his best, and only, friend. That turned out to be a lie. She didn't want to say anything because . . . she was waiting on him. That had to be it. She was nervous, yes, but he wasn't too sure what about. _Shouldn't she be . . . sneering? Rubbing it in my face that my girlfriend just broke up with me?_

Tifa opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She closed it, her teeth lightly chewing on her full lower lip. He blinked at what the notion, that small movement, did to him. _How can someone have lips that pink . . . ? _She wasn't wearing lipstick he just noticed. Closing his eyes again, he began to feel a headache coming on. Taking two steps back, he leaned against the stove, opening his eyes and raising a brow. She shook her head. His patience was slipping, that he knew, so he decided that maybe he _should _say something first. Taking one . . .two . . . three deep breaths, he gulped before starting what would inevitably become a screaming match.

"What did you mean, ten years ago?"

That wasn't what he wanted to say. He wanted to say something more like, _"What the hell Tifa?!" _and a string of more profanities. But her almost hopeless look was getting to him. _I'm such a fucking sap. _She blinked several times, one hand raising to her mouth, her fingers gently brushing her lips like they'd done just a few moments before in the car. He held his breath, something he probably shouldn't do. She was taken aback by his question, that was for sure. And she wanted to answer. Tifa opened her mouth, but he beat her to speaking.

"I mean, for eleven years you'd faked being my friend? How the hell does anyone do that?" _Ah shit I'm doing it. _"I'd known you since I was five, and the day I'm leaving, the day I think I might never fucking see you again, you pull that shit on me?"

"Cloud, wait--"

"No!" His voice was raising, he could hear it, but he couldn't silence himself. _Cloud, shut up! _"I'd waited five years to get a friend, and I met you, just to find out that for years you'd been lying to me. There was a lot of stuff I wanted to say to you, I wanted to call you a heartless bitch, but I couldn't do that." She bit her lip at that, and he could see that her eyes were beginning to water, but Cloud just would not be quiet. _Shut the hell up!_ "You know why? I cared about you, Tifa, I did, like . . . like . . ." He shook his head, kicking himself for almost saying something he was going to regret. "But none of that met anything to you! Eleven years of . . . of putting up with crap from the people around town, and you go and betray me like that--"

"What do you know?!" Cloud blinked, his mouth still half open. By this time he'd made it to the other side of the counter, closer to her, standing against it. She was still in the middle of his living room, and she'd barely moved. Tifa gulped, her breathing hitched slightly. _She's trying not to cry. _"Are you that damn stupid? Cloud, what five year old can fake how they feel about someone? You were always the only guy I ever wanted to be around, and you still were that day you left! You think I wanted to see you go? You think I wanted to be in that town by myself, where everyone there was only my friend because I was pretty, and because they felt sorry for me that my mom had died, even though that was seven years before you left?!"

"Then what was it?" He shouted.

"My _dad!"

* * *

_So, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated, so I'm breaking this up as well.  
Which basically means we have a tri-shot on our hands here.  
Once again, sorry for the wait! Hope it was worth part of it.  
Happy Valentine's Day!!! And I hope to have the next and last chapter out very very soon! Not two months later like this one! _  
_


	3. Bedroom

Yay! Last chapter everyone! Much thanks to:  
_**cloudlover2989, vLuna, Yumi Reitenshi, linegenrou, mom calling, and Layla~!!**_

* * *

The first tear fell, sliding down her cheek. She shook her head, and more came. "My dad made me say that to you! He hated you for only God knows why, and I told him I was going to see you. I told him that I was going to tell you how I felt about you leaving, how I felt about _you, _and he wouldn't have any of it. He told me to say those . . . those awful things to you so that . . . so that . . ." She hung her head and collapsed onto the couch, both hands covering her face.

Cloud's brow furrowed. He didn't understand. _Her . . . dad? _So, she didn't mean anything she'd said that day? Ten years, and all this time he'd been so angry with her for apparently no reason? _She didn't . . . have to say it. _Okay, maybe she didn't. Her dad wouldn't know anyway would he? But, her dad was always manipulative. For the most part, Tifa could get away for being with him, but at others he nearly had her head.

And right now, her sobbing was killing him. He still cared, he always had, but before it had been partially masked by his anger and frustration. But that was before he knew that truth. Now, why wasn't he questioning this? Well . . . she wouldn't be sitting here bawling in front of him if he weren't. Tifa wasn't the type of person to show her weakness to anyone, for any reason. That much he still remembered.

Cloud gulped, pushing himself off of the counter and making his way to the sofa. Was this the payback he'd been wanting for the past decade? Someway to possibly hurt her, get her back for what she'd done to him? Sure, he had plenty of chances just in this one night, and he hadn't taken any of them. And now there was this, which was totally accidental. God did his life suck. _I can't believe this. _He was supposed to be angry! Not . . . not feeling bad for her. _But she didn't mean it. _She said it . . . and that hurt a lot. But she didn't mean it. _That's the most important thing right? That Tifa didn't mean what she'd said. That she really did care about me, and that she really was my friend. _Then Cloud remembered something she'd just said. _Tell me what she felt . . . about me? What about me? _By this time, he was standing by the arm of the sofa.

Two swift strides later, and he had settled very gently into the space next to her. For a moment she continued to sob, her body turned sideways toward Cloud with her head against the back of the sofa. Then, she looked up quickly and saw him sitting there, and shook her head before trying to turn around the other way. He wasn't going to let her do that. Pulling her into his lap, he sighed and lifted one hand to her chin, forcing her to look up at him. Tifa was . . . resistant, and shook her head again, hitting his chest with her fists to try and get away. Cloud grabbed both of her arms, making her stop and look at him. Her face, her cheeks were lined with tears, and for a brief moment he felt . . . guilty. Maybe he'd come on too strong? _What was I supposed to do? How would I know it was her father who meant those things and not her? _He didn't know how; he just knew that now he did. And he felt bad for maybe not . . . letting her explain? _I'm confused. _And his headache wasn't getting that much better either.

"Let me go," she whispered, looking down again. It was there, the hurt in her voice. The pain. She'd been feeling it too, for all this time. She . . . probably hurt more than he did, constantly feeling guilty, worried about the next time she saw him--if that even ever happened--and what would go on. He never thought that the next time he saw Tifa, it would end up with her on his lap.

Cloud shook his head, adjusting himself so that he let go on her arms and wrapped them instead around her waist, pulling her flush against him. She went completely rigid, and he didn't move, waiting for her to relax. She didn't understand why he was doing this; hell, he barely understood himself. _We have to make up time. _This was never how he imagined his relationship with her to flow, when they were little. He always thought they'd be together through everything, until the day his mother said they were moving. Even then, Cloud being the stupid teenager he was, he wondered if maybe, when they got older, they could meet again.

"Please."

This time, it almost sounded like her voice was close to breaking for the second time. He gulped, not wanting to let her go--again. That happened once before, and for ten years he was never able to find her . . . not that he wanted to in the angry state of mind he was in. But a very small nagging part of him did.

He reluctantly did what she asked, snaking his arms from around her. For a quick second, she didn't register that he'd listened, because she was still sitting there. But she got up, and walked away from the sofa, past the arm and toward the wall that led down a hallway. He watched her rather closely, and an unexplainable urge crept over him. Cloud stood up and made his way over to her figure.

Tifa heard him stand, and turned around to ask him where exactly she was going to sleep, but only got half the question out before being pressed against the wall. Her eyes widened, her mouth slightly agape as she felt his lips on her throat. "Cl-cloud . . ." He took a firm hold on both of her wrists and brought them above her head. She tried to twist out of his grip, turning her head to the side, but he was too strong for her. Her voice broke into a sob, before she bit down on her lower lip to stop herself. _No! Don't do it. _"What are y-you doing?"

"You didn't mean . . . any of it?" he asked. His voice was soft, quiet, and she could feel his mouth move against her now boiling skin.

She gulped, sniffing. "No, I didn't. Cloud, I would never say anything like that to you." He sighed, raising his head to look at her, into her eyes and see if she was lying to him. She could tell that he knew she wasn't. For a moment he kept them in this position, his forehead falling gently forward and resting on hers, and she closed her eyes and let go of the deep breath she'd been holding in. He moved, lifting his chin slightly, and before she knew it, his lips had joined with her own.

He didn't let go of her wrists for a few seconds, and the kiss was gentle before he pulled away to look at her again. Tifa's eyes were wide with surprise, but he could tell that . . . that she'd been wanting that as much as he had. And he kissed her again, this time a bit rougher, showing more passion than he had at first. It stole the breath from her lungs, how much she now knew of his want for her. Years and years of it building, escalating until finally he was able to show her the way he wanted to. Of course, she was in the same situation.

Her wrists were let go soon enough, and her trembling hands went from above her head to his shirt. He felt her nimble fingers at work, undoing the buttons to get it loose and off of him. The material was still a bit wet from its earlier assault, and he smelled like strawberry she now noticed. Being this close to him, she was beginning to notice a lot of things. He pressed against her, and she gasped at the bulge she felt in his pants, breaking the kiss between him. Cloud gave her a lop-sided grin, his hands making their way to her hips and pulling the sweater up and over her head. She gulped, not knowing what seeing her almost topless would do to him. But as soon as the shirt was gone, his lips were back at her throat, kissing a path down to her shoulder.

Tifa shuddered, finally getting the buttons undone. He growled, pressing his body against hers more, if that were possible, the space between them almost completely void. She bit her lip, trying her hardest to keep from moaning out loud, although it came anyway from the back of her throat. He pushed the shirt off of him, never leaving her, and when it was off he raised his head and met her lips again. His hands cradled her face, and her arms wrapped around his neck for a brief moment, before Tifa pulled away.

"I-I can't," she whispered.

His hands slipped down to her waist, wrapping around her hips as he pulled her from against the wall and closer to him. His forehead lay against hers again, his eyes closed, and he asked huskily, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not . . . ready. I can't do _that _yet, Cloud." He sighed, his smile growing, and he let out a small chuckle. Tifa's brow furrowed. "What's funny?"

He shook his head slightly. "Nothing's funny Tifa. It's just that . . . well, it's nice to know I . . . would have been your first." Opening his eyes he continued, "Assuming you haven't . . . ?"

Tifa giggled. "No. I . . . haven't." Wrapping her arms around his neck again she said, "But, I can pretty much guarantee you'll be my first, Cloud." He raised a brow in question, pulling his forehead apart from hers. "Well, I mean, I've never felt more . . . right . . . with anyone. Even earlier tonight when you were angry with me, Cloud, I knew that was just because of what I'd said ten years ago. All the time I've known you, I've felt like this and--"

He silenced her with his lips, smiling on her mouth and pulling away again. "You're rambling. Something else I remember about you when we were younger--you do that when you get nervous." She giggled at him again. "I know we can't get ten years back, Tifa, but I'd like to make up the time somehow."

"How about I . . . I stay with you then?" She blinked. "Oh wait," Tifa lowered her gaze to the floor, "there's that Aerith girl."

Cloud scoffed, taking one hand and raising her chin. "No there's not. She broke up with me tonight, remember?"

Tifa nodded. "Yes, but maybe she was just angry." His eyes hardened slightly and he raised his brow again. "You don't . . . care?" He smiled. "Oh . . . well then I guess we don't have to worry about that!"

"You can still read me like a book, can't you?" Tifa nodded. Cloud smiled at her, his eyes trailing from her face down to her neck. Loosening his grip on her slightly, he looked down and saw the bra she was wearing. Sucking in a breath, it took everything in him not to rip the striped green material off. He could tell her intentions by her underwear, and tonight she wasn't looking for a mate. _Not . . . expecting me, I guess. _Cloud laughed at his thoughts, and before she could ask him what he was laughing about, he was kissing her again. Passionate, rough, those were words he would use to describe it, even though he wasn't trying to be. It was more like he was fighting with himself to not take her then and there.

One hand slipping further down, it curved around her rear, before lifting her leg up and around his waist. She bit his lower lip softly, before throwing her head back against the wall and letting a sigh escape past her lips. His other hand came up, his fingers getting tangled in her silky tresses. He knew that sex wasn't what she wanted to do at the moment. _Or well, what she's not **ready **to do at the moment. _But he was going to get as much out of tonight as he could without crossing the line. She wasn't protesting, so he figured he was in the clear.

Tifa wrapped her hands tighter around his neck, feeling his lips touch the base of her throat, moving down, down, down until he was biting the bridge of the bra. She bit her lip, looking at him, apprehension in her eyes. _Is he going to . . . ? _Yes, she really, _really _wanted him, but she didn't think that now was a good time for her. And yes, Tifa was well aware that Cloud respected her wishes, but she wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do about that, or to get around it. Letting go of the material, he started making his way back up, and she released the breath she'd been holding. _Okay . . . that was close? _She wasn't too sure anymore. It didn't take too long for her to stop having comprehensible thoughts altogether.

Cloud made his way back up to her neck, nibbling lightly on her skin and kissing the spots before moving on to another one. _She's going to have a lot of suck marks in the morning, isn't she? _He smiled at his little triumph, raising his lips to her ear and murmuring into it. What he said, he's not exactly sure, nor is she he supposed. Smelling her hair, then back down to her neck, he let out a deep breath. _God she smells good. _Almost like the flowers he remembered her mother growing.

Then she jumped, wrapping both legs around his waist. He growled into her skin, and her hands went to the sides of his face, redirecting his lips to his own. He pushed her back against the wall. She broke the kiss, yelping from the moderate discomfort she felt from the sudden assault, and he raised his head slightly to kiss her again. This was too much for him, but he had to control himself. From how . . . frantic she was getting, he could tell that it was becoming hard for her as well. But she wasn't making too sudden of movements, which told him that she wasn't just being silly early; Tifa really wasn't ready for what they both knew they wanted to do.

She thrust her hips against his softly, and he broke the kiss between them, panting slightly. Her head came down this time, laying small claims to his neck while he entangled his fingers in her hair once more, bringing it to his nose so that he could take in the simple pleasure that was her scent. His legs moved, he noted, but to where his mind couldn't consciously comprehend for some reason. There was a door down the hall that was already open, and Tifa had lifted her head to kiss him again. One hand was still in her hair, the other underneath her thigh to support her so she didn't fall. Cloud paused, no longer moving, breaking their kiss, before bending over and gently laying her down on what he could now see was his bed.

Climbing over her, he looked down at her to see if she was alright. Tifa's eyes sparkled in a way that Cloud had never . . . seen before, and he was sure the same was for her. She giggled as he embraced her neck with his lips one, two, three more times, before turning over and lying next to her. She immediately snuggled against him, burying her head into the crook of his neck as he sighed and wrapped one arm around his waist.

"Nothing at all?"

His question amused her slightly and she shook her head. "No," she whispered into his skin. He nodded, bringing her closer and wrapping his comforter around them both.

Laying a kiss on the top of her head, he sighed into her hair. "That's fine. I can wait." He felt her lips curve into a smile, and took her hand gently as she laid it across his stomach. Sleeping with his pants on after a . . . date, if he could call tonight that, was a new feat for him, but as he said before, he could wait for her. _I've been waiting for ten years. A little longer won't hurt too much. _Cloud sighed again. Well, this sure didn't end how he'd imagined, but that wasn't the point. "Tifa?" he whispered, but her deep breathing let him know that she had, already, drifted off to sleep. _Must be tired . . . _He smirked, knowing that mostly had to do with the last half of their night, which was fine.

His phone vibrated in his pocket. Tifa stirred, her hand slipping from his own and coming to the other side of his neck. Cloud shifted slightly so he wouldn't disturb her too much, and reached down for it. Flipping it open, the semi-darkness of his room was suddenly slightly brightened by the harsh light of his phone. His eyes squinting, he quickly read the text he'd received, before scoffing and throwing his phone across Tifa and onto the floor. _Is she kidding me? Wants to make amends? Didn't mean what she said? Aerith always does that. _No, he didn't want her back, that he was sure of. _No . . . the woman I want, I now have. _Looking down at Tifa again, he noted her breathing and was now very positive that she was indeed sleeping. _I should do the same. _That would be a good idea. Yawning, he held Tifa tighter and whispered, "I'm sorry I never told you this before but . . . but I--"

"I know." Cloud blinked. She was . . . awake? "Don't worry--" she yawned, "--about it." He wasn't sure what exactly she meant until she kissed his neck and murmured, "I love you too."

And with that, he was satisfied.

* * *

I'm so happy to have this done!  
I hope everyone enjoyed that last chapter! Thank you again for reading!!


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